First off, let’s just state the fact that crying kids are my least favorite creatures. Sick-screaming kids, on the other hand, are my personal imagination of an alien master plot to dominate earth.

So basically, my 12 hours at pediatric ER were witnessing vomiting, diarrhea, pneumonias, and the non-ceasing chorus of screeches mingled with the beeping of monitors. Such scenario would be somehow tolerable if it wasn’t in a governmental third-world hospital. Remember when I said it’s kind of like Grey’s Anatomy, except that it’s nothing like it?

Well, for starters, we deal with the lowest possible socioeconomic classes. Most of the patients are impecunious and ignorant (if not even illiterate), that never annoyed me; it’s not their fault and they deserve treatment. The disaster is that we, doctors, have to function with the least infection control measures (if not without any). The floor is dirty, and there are stray cats and cockroaches! I have seen a doctor collecting a blood sample without wearing gloves, the baby’s blood trickling all over her fingers, and when she was done and saw the shock on my face, she told me “don’t do what I just did!” There is a box of gloves sitting on the nurses desk, but few doctors care enough to use any. That sickens me!

Another emotionally devastating thing was how the bed sheets were blood-drenched, urine-stained, and needle-studded! I have been to governmental hospitals in UAE and seen how the sheets were disposable and consistently replaced. What I saw yesterday was just so wrong!

Back to kids, in such an overwhelmingly stressful situation, I tried not to get involved. How could I manage patients I have no sympathy for? The kids seemed like noisy things who needed to shut up! The only kid I sympathized with was 4-year-old who needed calcium gloconate injections to treat his hypocalcimic condition. He looked so harmless and terrified, he persistently begged to go home and I found myself trying so hard to sooth and lull him to stop him from moving his hand and displacing his cannula. I have no idea how that boy managed to break my heart!

And there I survived my first night shift ever! I’m not looking forward to my next one!

So today was my first day as an intern doctor. Let me tell you something about hospital internships in Egypt, you know, it’s kind of like Grey’s Anatomy, except that it’s nothing like Grey’s Anatomy! I’ll be thoroughly talking about this, but not today. Stay posted!

What happened today was a cycle of pleading and begging. Why? Because Egyptian “public servants” are heartless and always bad-tempered. Originally, I was listed in one of the ministry’s hospitals, but I filed a request to be moved to my med school’s educational hospital (not today’s story), let’s just focus on the fact that I DID hand the request to the woman in the corresponding office.

Consequently, I should’ve found my name automatically listed in the hospital’s schedules, which hasn’t happened! You don’t want to know the details, because it’s so boring, but to cut the story short, they lost my request, and I had to spin around and get shooed from one office to another to file a new one, begging the employees to just answer my Goddamned questions!

On the plus side, I finally have been listed in pediatrics with cool friends. But we have a night shift tomorrow! Yep, my first ER shift ever is tomorrow! Stay tuned!

You might already know that my last run was an utter failure. However, on the bright side, I’ve been running since then 2-3 times weekly. A friend recommended this “C 25K” app, and it helped a lot. So, last Friday was “Cairo Runners” wake-up run (a 8K route), and I needed to test my progress.

Well, last time I ran a Kilo and walked the rest, this time I ran around half the route. That’s something!

Save for today, I have never run further than few meters. In fact, I never was into running or any sort of cardio training, and perhaps that’s why I love lifting weights! So anyway, today was “Cairo Runners” season finale, and the shortest run was near 10 kilometers. I needed to prove I’m fit enough, so I gave it a go..

The run started at 7 am. At 7:05 am, I was panting. At 7:10 am, a simple realization hit me; I’m so incredibly unfit! Out of 10 kilometers, I walked around 9. To make things worse, I wore the wrong shoes (because my running sneakers didn’t match my clothes! Silly!); they were so un-comfy and kept making loud noises as I hit the road! Oh, did I ever mention how bumpy Cairo streets are??

Astonishingly, fifty-something men could swiftly sprint past me, when I was literally dragging myself and battling to catch my breath! My 14-year-old sister outran me, because I was just so turtle-ish!

I made the run (or technically the walk) within an hour and 44 minutes! So from this moment on, I’m obliged to:

Like this:

With the utter brutality and frank killing going, there isn’t much to say. I’m not sure what to grief first, my people who die in thousands on a daily basis, my country that has slipped into infinite chaos, or common sense that no longer exists.

This nightmare doesn’t seem to end any time soon, I’m standing helpless and my prayers are all I have.

Like this:

We’re technically supposed to still be in winter, aren’t we?! Well, either “global warming” has monsterized to thrust its clutches into your soothing chill, or perhaps, the world is just coming to an end! You know, Egypt is meant to be a “warm” zone, but 34ْ C with spring emerging at the horizon is just too much! Sir, what have you saved for summer??!

Today your heat made me feel as if my eyes were replaced by a pair of poached eggs when I walked the street, my brain was on the verge of a meltdown and I wore that crazed look of zombies. I certainly am not the only sufferer, people are going mad out there!

I hope you read my message and reconsider your behavior, maybe you should see a doctor, ’cause sir, we do need you to recover.

Like this:

You just can’t resist the moon as it lingers up there illuminating that gloomy sky! Here are some photos I shot a while ago before drowning into my exams.. Wish me luck, I still have 6 tough weeks ahead!

It’s been a while since I last captured photos; such luxury isn’t at hand with final exams emerging at the horizon. However, I couldn’t help but grab my camera few days back when I happened to be awake to watch the sun rising! 😀